By Hipolito Navarrete, Managing Editor/Publisher

Thanksgiving is now a time for conflicted emotions. We all appreciate the holiday that is supposed to be about family and/or friends just being together. We are encouraged to appreciate what we have, or just being alive if struggle is part of your daily routine. We have seen examples of generosity by those that have achieved the American Dream towards those that are still struggling to find it. There is much good to be thankful for. Many of us are able to sit and converse about that one moment that you felt at peace with the world, at the same there are so many injustices that do not make any sense that are happening in a world that can still take care of all of its human inhabitants.

How do we utilize this holiday to bring the human family together after it has done so much damage to each other? Can we overlook each other’s transgressions, even as egregious as some of them are? Are we to ignore the violence brought to some of the very people this is meant to celebrate? Well, my father had a simple answer to this, each other. Each one of us has the potential to be a gift to each other and to the world so we must keep the fire of hope burning in our hearts that one of us will find the formula to save the world from being destroyed and to encourage each other to build us up, because tearing the world down just takes a tantrum.

The world still responds to strong people, what we need are more inclusive and compassionate people who are willing to risk for others that they do not know or understand. Individuals that can look at anothers’ pain and act to try and stop it, lessen it or at least make the ones suffering a bit more comfortable. We seem to have lost that type of care, well according to TV and films. The fact is that although much of the world is suffering because of man created events, there is a very large segment that wants to make sure all citizens of the world live a full life. There are many examples around you, you may be one of them. So as we try and understand our world and why we should be thankful, we just need to look at each other and be grateful that there are among us, those individuals that will be there for humanity, when humanity most needs them, and we should thank them by supporting them.

Happy Day of Gratitude and Grace!